It's funny, as certs in the IT world come in and out of favor, each generation learns from the past. (ISC)2 does everything it can to keep people from being able to just cram or go to a boot camp to learn what they need to know to pass. People saw how worthless the MCSE became with all the paper tigers running around. I had no clue how I did on the test when I walked out, 250 of the most obtuse, obscure, ambiguous questions I had ever seen!

Those of you in IT, what has been your experience with certs, and how valuable do you think they really are?

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Those of you in IT, what has been your experience with certs, and how valuable do you think they really are?

How valuable does your employer think they are? Do you get a raise for this?

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I've seen some jobs that required them as an entry requirement, but I've never seen anyone get a raise or be able to get a higher salary because they held a technical certification.

My favorite is when an old company instituted a certification program. I was considered the leading expert in the product in the company, outside of engineering. I failed the test three times. Nobody else passed either. One of those tests where they try to get tricky and make many answers right but one more right than others. Unless the guy writing the test has 10 years of experience and the guy taking it has 20 and knows stuff that makes one of the less right answers a little bit more right...

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Be fearful when others are greedy, and greedy when others are fearful. Just another form of "buy low, sell high" for those who have trouble with things. This rule is not universal. Do not buy a 1973 Pinto because everyone else is afraid of it.

How valuable does your employer think they are?* Do you get a raise for this?

I took this test for one reason only, my bosses told me to. They are making excited sounds today about the good news, but that and 3 bucks gets you a cup of coffee. Our "customer" wanted more CISSPs to work on the project, and things tend to roll downhill. I'm the second at my work, and the first got a 20% raise last year, allegedly in part due to getting this cert. We'll see

Next I'm going to get the company sponsered graduate certificate in engineering down at UCSD. That will help me decide whether to get my Master's (i.e., do I have the stick-toitness to do it right now).

Thanks, Marshac! It's a well known debate in the IT world re:certs. I think the key is to be doing the job already, and the cert can help round out your credentials, and act as a filter when applying to new jobs (i.e., a lot of HR people do key word searches on cert acronyms). The rub comes when a low level tech thinks he's going to get the CIO job after getting a cert, a bit of a disconnect there. :

I have a string of Certs. after my name for my profession that have no real meaning for me other than they were required of me in my previous employment. *They are not the same as your IT certs. but required testing and experience levels to attain them. *I find them of little use currently. *In my previous job they were there to impress external auditors and to assure them we knew what was required (think ISO). *

I can see some value in them for assurance of at least a basic operating level of knowledge in a very specific job or area. *I used to require all my auditor to be certified in several areas for credibility with outside companies we assessed and with internal managment to provide adequate wages for them. *

My certs. are now lapsing and I have the joy of not needed to renew them. *

Congratulations Laurence! - I have no idea what it is, even though I spent 35 years in the Software Industry! - But Congratulations anyway!

I think IT or IS or DP or whatever has been struggling with certifications ever since 1970. They were trying to strive for something like a CPA, but the technology changes so fast the certifications end up obsolete in about 10 years.

I checked google and it said "Here are the results of your search, Grandpa..."

Actually is still one school offering CDP's...

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Be fearful when others are greedy, and greedy when others are fearful. Just another form of "buy low, sell high" for those who have trouble with things. This rule is not universal. Do not buy a 1973 Pinto because everyone else is afraid of it.

I bet there are schools teaching suckers desperate students how to be bank tellers & meter readers, too...

I'm pretty sure that all the "customer service" schools have been sent to Mumbai.

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*The book written on E-R.org, "The Military Guide to Financial Independence and Retirement", on sale now! For more info see "About Me" in my profile.
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That was the first certification I refused to obtain . . . followed by 3Com's, and Novell's and Microsoft's. The company would pay for all of them. We had a good number of what we called "paper CNEs" . . . they had the certificate, but couldn't do even rudimentary tasks. Big waste of time and money.

CDP - When I worked for a big IT shop at one of the Baby Bells back in the 1990's, they were really hot to have as many people as possible get a CDP. But it seemed like most other employers didn't have the foggiest idea what that was. I did pass it (it was grueling), and kept it up for a few years before I realized that it was not really worth anything.

I think they changed the names along the way too. I thought it stood for "Certified Data Professional".

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